Anonymous wrote:Vandy. Went there for my JD and loved it. Wish I'd applied for UG.

My college choice came down to Vandy or Emory (after William & Mary rejected me). I chose Emory, but really wish I'd have chosen Vandy.

Anonymous wrote:I went to a very large flagship and think I would choose Davidson now.

I'd choose Davidson, too!

Georgetown. Went to UVA (where I had a fabulous time) because we could not afford the School of Foreign Service tab. Ended up getting my JD at GULC but it wasn’t the same being downtown.

Oxmoor/Cambridge, Trinity College (Dublin), Edinburgh, Bristol, NYU, maybe Fordham…

Anonymous wrote:Went to Yale but at the time my dream school was Duke, however was not accepted.

Oh poor you

1. Gettysburg
2. Yale
3. Caltech

This post is causing me to pine for the roads not taken.

At this point? I don't think I have a dream school. I think any number of schools would have worked for me.

I "dreamed" of an Ivy when I was a kid, but didn't get in. Went to Wake Forest, though, and that turned out to be a great fit for me (even as a liberal Yankee). It was the Goldilocks school - not too big, not too small, but it also had Division I athletics. The campus was so pretty - definitely sold me when I visited. I made great friends and likely would have made the same choice all over again.

In visiting schools with my daughter, I have liked schools with a well defined campus but near other amenities

Someone mentioned honors colleges at state schools. University of Delaware sold the top kids at my parochial HS HARD on theirs 30 years ago. They kept pulling all of us out of classes to talk to us about it. I actually got very annoyed with them, because I had zero desire to stay home to go to school. I didn't even apply as a safety, which was highly unusual for my class. That said, I had applied to JMU as an OOS student, and they asked me to apply to theirs. I did and would have attended had I not gotten the yes from Wake. I think there are some advantages/benefits to honors colleges, but not sure the honors college is enough reason to go to the OOS school. YMMV

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SLAC all the way! I loved Duke but my son’s experiences and opportunities at a SLAC are unbeatable.

What school?

Probably Bucknell.

These random Bucknell boosting posts are bizarre.

UC Santa Cruz

Back then? Rose Hulman (but they didn't accept women) and Georgia Tech (OOS was too much and Atlanta was too big of a city!).

Now? West Point, although not sure I could've ever done the fitness part and I don't think much of the different standards for men and women.

Regrets? None. Hit up the state flagship for engineering. Got a great education and had a blast. Job market was crap when I graduated but loved what I did. Til I didn't. Then flexed into my now 20+ yr career in IT. Never looked back and our teens (and their friends!) think it's "cool" that their (almost senior citizen) "mom" is an engineer and/or programmer.

DC1 has no dream school.
DC2 is a War Eagle wannabe!

Anonymous wrote:I went to a blah undergrad in Europe and then an Ivy as an exchange student. In my dreams, I would have picked a beautiful, sunny campus in CA.

I went to no name state u in CA (two of them). The campus wasn't great, but the weather was awesome.

My cousin went to Cal, and the housing was blah, as was UCLA. UCSB campus spot is pretty, but the buildings are also blah. I don't find most of the CA universities all that pretty, but again, the weather cannot be beat.

My DD want's to go to school in CA, but I had to dash her dreams. It's too pricey. Galls me that I paid so much in taxes for 20 years in CA (I became a high earner) and now we would have to pay oos tuition.

Decades ago, I attended and graduated from an LAC/SLAC. The school was too isolated, too cliquey, and too much focus on drinking at fraternities. I did not enjoy the experience. Disliked seeing the same faces each day. Disliked the limited number of courses and limited number of professors in my major. Nonetheless, there are a few LACs that I would consider today.

Middlebury College would be of interest because it is large for an LAC (about 2,750 students), offers great skiing within a reasonable drive, and is reasonably close to Burlington.

Claremont McKenna might be of interest due to the 5 school consortium and majors offered.

Colorado College because taking one course each term followed by a long weekend would allow for stress-free snow skiing opportunities.

Because of the development of honors colleges at large public universities, I would prefer attending almost any SEC school or most any Big Ten university. Would love the vast variety of social & academic options.

Regardless of school attended, I would focus on academics, athletics, and travel and rarely attend frat or sorority parties.

Georgetown. Still Georgetown. Loved it in the early 90s.

I went to a SLAC. I didn't look at a lot of schools and it was far enough away, but also not very far. It was a nice experience, but I think I would have benefited from going somewhere I wanted to live afterwards. I'd say NYU, but I really liked having a real campus. Or, in a different direction: W&M. I didn't even know that school existed, but I think it has the right balance that would have served me well.